Gunny2862

I believe a "TarpTent" aka Henry Shires style with the parts sewn together but with the addition of the sewn-in floor would be welcome. Any of the TarpTent commercial tents should also work. Our Ranger way very particular about the two man tent stipulation and would have made us use a Philmont tent had we not had a two man tent to replace the solo one of us was planning on using. His Rationale (right or wrong)was a Bear sees a group of tents and sees something large he might not want to get into - a two man tent slightly separated might not seem like a much more tempting target but a one man t

I've typed and deleted about three times and am still not sure exactly how to say what I'm trying to get at but here goes again... and due to the size and complexity of the issue I'm sure this will not capture all of the greater argument but... If a family earned about 50-60 thousand in income, had just short of 400 thousand in debt, and were borrowing another 30-40 thousand a year. Wouldn't any financial adviser immediately tell them to a) reduce their expenses, b) quit borrowing, c)contact their creditors and give them a plan as to how they would be repaid, d) figure out a way to bring in

Wow Gary, that's very pause, Libertarian of you. But sounds about right assuming one trusts industry to regulate itself more than the Government to regulate on our behalf. The feedback loop works better when the customers have something tangible to rate versus the price of the product and can fiscally reward those who do things effectively.

For someone who is so maligned as being so thick; this sure seems to make sense, and echo's some posters above... http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150260905388435 doesn't seem irresponsible to me..., what am I missing...?

And there's the rub. The Two major entities have been working together so long that they are two side of the same coin - something (in this case the Tea Party) came in and shook up the process. And a lot of people think that the business as usual needed to be shaken up. Does that mean that anyone is fully happy with what the outcome is: I doubt it. But IMHO its good to see that the Office holders are at least considering whether they need to take what we think into account rather than just cutting deals without considering the electorate at all.(This message has been edited by Gunny2862)

CalicoPenn if the Tea Party has been " thoroughly taken over by the right wing with an agenda quite different from what they want.", then why are they still relevant in the conversation - even if it were true that it is only as an obstacle? Would we even be having this conversation if it were true that the Tea Party has been " thoroughly taken over by the right wing with an agenda quite different from what they want."?

Beavah, I think you are painting the Tea Party with a pretty wide brush drawing from a narrow sample or amalgamating various points into a crazy mishmash. Something could be helping you with that would include that if you speak with a hundred Tea Party claiming folks you'll probably get a hundred different points on various issues from them and just because you put those points together it doesn't necessarily follow that those individual points are points that 51% of them would agree with. And there is no Party Office that speaks for the majority of Tea Partiers. But unlike either of

Bottom line is the pack needs to carry your gear. If you aren't a kid(and thus don't throw your pack around) and if you don't "bust brush" when you are hiking you can very easily use a lighter pack. If your carry load is 50 lbs(a normal Philmont load, but many folks carry too much) - and you carry a six pound pack, the pack alone is more than 10% of your load(12%), an eight pound pack is 16% of your load! Thus the pack becomes the load instead of carrying it. I can think of no reason why any competent person couldn't use a lightweight pack at Philmont. Just ensure you pay attention to

As a SM I have never done a tent inspection for any reason. As a Camp Commissioner at a camp in the Midwest, we have done daily inspections, and do give ratings to each campsite but (here's the subterfuge - game in a game...) The posted results have no bearing on any awards or competitions - but they do allow for both positive and negative and comments to be made regarding health and safety issues without pointing out the Scouts in any particular tent. The Inspections are not about the neatness, but about catching pre-cursors to mold, fungal issues, unsafe individual food storage, be

What you do at home is your business, what you do on an outing with my Troop is mine and the BSA's. One of the primary reasons adults camp with/near Scouts in the first place is to provide a safety framework for those boys in addition to providing the adult association method. How much safety framework is someone providing if they are inebriated to any degree - if something is happening that requires adult intervention then being addled by ANY substance is reckless. Ensure your COR and IH know the rules and that they will back you, either give the adults another chance letting them k

Other than the can disposal issue, I like the isobutane systems we use (Various Jetboils). And I've never had an "I can't cook with it issue" with the isobutane canisters. If it is 30 degrees F or below we do as a practice keep a can in a sleeping bag overnight but I have only seen negative effects when a)when super scout placed a can on the snow to start cooking, it still worked but not a good choice, it was quickly decided to clear off a rock and put the stove on that instead; separate case b) under 30 degrees and c) happened to be above 10k ft and using a stove that drew from the canis

Isobutane worked extremely well for us at Philmont 2010. We will be using it again for our 2012 Expedition. IWTGBTP! Isobutane Pro's/White Gas Con's No fuel spillage a) in packs; b) while preparing pump; c) while removing pump; d)while pouring from large bottle to "cooking" bottle; e) if fuel tube comes loose from stove(big fire hazard); f) If pump to bottle connection is worn/leaks/improperly fitted. No pre-ignition flare from fuel cups to warm the vaporizer tube. Safer for all the reasons above. Have to carry White Gas cans' regardless of full or not for the duration of the t

Mucking out Camp "Vault" toilets with a shovel, bucket on a rope, and a topside helper when the decomp process failed or was overwhelmed. Cleaning Grocery Store Meat shops - Band Saws, Slicers, Grinders, Knives, Tables and the overall space - with a good attitude and while displayed to customers. Clearing the space under Scales, Truck Scales, Livestock Scales, Frozen truck scale pits (Lever, Load Cell and Combo's) Some of that was excellent work (Not!). Hanging Drywall is work but mudding and sanding, clean, but dirty if you know what I mean. Oh, did I mention I was a Mar

Back to the OP look into the Big Agnes Classic series, the square footbox and generous cut may help with some of the claustrophobic sensations and the air pad you put in will help with the ground heat loss. I use an Exped Synmat 7 as my air pad it's rated to 0 degrees F(I've used mine for more than 3 years at this point and love it. I haven't been able to save for the bag yet but have my sights set on their Lost Ranger model rated for 20 degrees F. Currently using the 3 part Military bag.

Thanks qwazse, that's the avenue I've been thinking. That just like the rest of the boys, it's not my award, just my responsibility to make sure they had the opportunity to get there.

We have lights, batteries, shelves, tables, cook kits, emergency food, emergency supplies, tents, stoves lamps fuel storage and a place for everything to go and until personal gear goes in, still have an aisle way. The trailer is huge, the only time we are ever close to capacity is summer camp load in/out or if we hit the road to a drop off point with backpacking gear for 3 full crews(Philmont style). It's great having such a big trailer because you never really worry about having to leave something behind for space or weight. It's a curse having such a big trailer because it's

Helios system and the 1.5 liter pot used with the pot supports and a regular Jetboil PCS were the two unspecified items I listed before.

Our trailer is owned by the Troop, which means ultimately as Troop property the CO owns it. We fund raise for insurance and have a generous donor who pays the registration which is in the CO's name. Our Trailer resides normally at the CO, with multiple means of security. At times one of the SM/ASM crew will drag it home and do some extensive rehabbing, usually in conjunction with the current QM.

For a full crew of 12, we took a two Jetboils, an extra pot, pot support, fuel can stabilizer to be used when the pot was placed on the pot support on one of the Jetboils and a jetboil group system not the GCS, but the $149 retail one. We all carried one can of fuel each. With all of that we still weighed in less than our 3 MSR Whisperlite Internationals with appropriate fuel to run each. On our return we found we'd carried 45% too much fuel and could have left 4-5 canisters behind. We made a sharpie slash on the bottom of any can we used on it's initial use and continued slashing with eac

But did ch33rful really get away? ch33rful is showing all of the qualities we want in our Eagles - without the award. I struggle with this myself as a Leader, one whose own son may choose not to complete the Journey to Eagle. On one hand, he's a great kid. Active in his Community, his Spiritual life, his Troop. Well regarded by Adults and Youth, always commended on any job (paid or volunteer) he takes on. Multiple Varsity letters in Multiple Sports although only a Sophomore. Sought after member of our Council Camp as a Staff member. Decent but not stellar grades. Kind, Thoughtful,

The 2010 awards are posted here: http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2010-02.html Once there, you can navigate to all the archived years.

For our OA trail lamps we had a wide wooden base with a tea candle holder encased by four small glass windows with a flip open latchable top with a 1/4 inch gap around on three sides. Virtually untippable, not enough flame to catch the unit even if the candle fell over, wind and rain, well, resistant, 'cause we did get them put out once. All home made except the glass panels which can be etched and cut from any standard sheet. Works great.

Smudge pots among other things are used on ranges to mark pathways, and provide "blacking" for weapons sights (a worn finish can shine, a temporary range fix is to properly smudge the sight removing the shine and when done properly "sharpening" the edges of the front sight post creating a better sight picture). They were also used to keep a ready source of fire available for cannon and when in fixed emplacements, match-lock weapons. Not really a lighting (lamp) accessory. Hurricane Lanterns are an entirely different piece of equipment. Not the same at all.(This message has been edit

In my little personal world - where it can on occasion get a little petty - I experience a little push back when someone tells me I "have to" take the mandatory training. On the other hand when I'm given the sales pitch that if I really want to provide the best Scouting experience for my Scouts then I'll make sure to get to the training and ensure I know everything Scouting has to offer them - Hey, I'm running to that. Especially if my predecessor has his "Trained" strip and ensures that even though he's the woodsy guy who know the taxonomia and common names of just about everything that

For those who are commenting on too much emphasis on getting Eagle and may or may not be noticing the conjunction of college scholarship application time: Parents who haven't prioritized Scouting in their youths' life come up against the fiscal realities of how much college is actually going to cost them if they are funding it - and come to see that anywhere between $500 and $5,000 is lying on the table for their Scout but it's just out of reach w/o that silly Scoutmaster signing over the award. In our entitlement world, it's just plan mean of Scouting to deprive little Johnny of his rights